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Epimetheus - Destroyer
The Epimetheus came about due more to actual necessity (itself rather rare in the realm of ship designs) rather than a push by a shipyard to produce the destroyer hull. It was found during the brief conflict with the Koulani that a faster ship was needed to lead groups of Corvettes into battle or to face off against a foe hidden behind a mass of spacestations or orbital defenses. The side-by-side development of the phased gravitic (or as it is more commonly known: graviton) missile led to the development of a ship that could carry the new graviton missile into combat. Matched perfectly with the newly produced Epimetheus, the new destroyer received its baptism of fire against the Ch’Lonas and later against the Centauri. Intended from the start to be a missile carrying ship, the hull arrangement of the Epimetheus was optimized for this state. The missile bays were placed on the front of the ship and instead of a “typical” arrangement of tubes backed by a bay that holds reloads, the actual mountings for the graviton missiles was a simple “drop-in” pod that held two graviton missiles. The rationale for this system was that with the Smart Modularity, any modifications to the launcher system could be easily swapped out without the ship having to go to a dedicated shipyard for the refit. Each pod is self-contained and holds the pair of missiles and has a door that opens prior to launch. The pod is also capable of being jettisoned in the event of heavy battle damage to area or if a missile is destroyed prior to launch. The total number of pods carried by each ship was set at twenty. They are mounted in sets of ten above and below the main hull. The secondary weaponry is a mix of what is found on the larger Tyche and is centered on a pair of antigraviton cannons that are side mounted. A quartet of turrets that principally fire to the rear, but also have the capability to fire into each side arc, mount the medium PPC arrangement. The size denotes the caliber of the coilgun as the particle cannon assembly is standardized throughout the fleet. Given the main armament of the ship, the power generation comes with just a pair of the upgraded Type 2 Energy Captor Systems. Appearing during the later stages of the Ch’Lonas War, the Epimetheus was used for the first time as part of a massive ambush laid for the Ch’Lonas’ raiding elements. Combined with the smaller Oracles and Tethyses, the Epimetheuses were well able to fight off the raiders. Later attacks by the Epimetheus on the Ch’Lonas’ homeworld caused them to sue for peace. It is unknown if the Epimetheus was used by Bureau 13 on their attack on the Ch’Lonas homeworld. Those Epimetheuses that survived the war against the Ch’Lonas went into salvage yards along with the Tyche cruisers following that war and were later the most common ship brought to full strength against the Centauri. It would be here against the Centauri that they developed an excellent reputation for combat capabilities, especially when used in conjunction with missile carrying Star Furies against Centauri formations. A planned “upgrade” that came about during the Constitution Frigates offensive against the Centauri is the Sagittarius ship design. Eschewing as much of the direct fire capability, the Sagittarius is built entirely upon a missile capability. Increasing the graviton missile pods to thirty, the extra ten pods are mounted in place of the antigraviton cannons. A quartet of missile tubes is also mounted on the front of the ship that gives the ship the capability to fire a wider array of missile types or to place mines. Planned upgrades include a ship that can make use of a gravitic drive system and combines the missile capabilities of the Sagittarius with the weaponry of a Constitution. Technical Specifications Class: Epimetheus Type: Destroyer Length: 450 m Mass: 560,000 tons Acceleration: 4 G Crew: 204 Small Craft: 4 Fighters and 2 Shuttles Power/Propulsion: 2 Type 2 Energy Captor Systems 4 Howard "Lightning" Plasma Engines 1 Atlas-K Dual Charge Jump Engine Weapons: 20 Boeing Graviton Missile Pods (40 total missiles), forward mount 2 Burner-7 Antigraviton Cannons, turreted (side mounted) 4 Edison/GE Light PPC mounts, turreted (rear mounted) 6 Edison/GE Mk I Interceptors, turreted (four forward and two rear mounted) Defensive Systems: Armored Hull, 4 meters thickness Adamantine/Mithral Composite throughout Mk I Interceptor System Sagittarius specifications: Mass: 600,000 tons Crew: 210 Weapons: 30 Boeing Graviton Missile Pods (60 total missiles), forward mount 4 Franklin Composites Missile Tubes (20 missile capacity or 60 mines), forward mount Category:Ships